Anyone who has been lucky enough to know Shannon, loves
Shannon. She is a kind soul, has a tremendous heart, and is one of the most
passionate people I know. So in honor of Shannon, I have planned a year of
(hopefully fun) activities to pay homage to her being, to challenge herself,
and to help regain trust in herself and the larger process.
I propose a year of travel, adventure, creativity, discovery
(and of course ice cream!). While it is no secret that education is not the
most lucrative career, I maintain visiting and experiencing at least one new
and different landmark per month. I have purposefully made this itinerary
budget-friendly. Some items are vague and up for interpretation and exploration
while others are purposefully specific. This “itinerary” should be viewed as a
guide, rather than a regimented schedule.
I encourage those living near and far to accompany Shannon
in her year of travel and discovery. And I (perhaps selfishly) hope this
journey will lead her back to Baltimore for a visit. Embrace the present, your
surroundings, and your being to the fullest. Enjoy the process and good luck!
OCTOBER
Location: Boise
Mission: To seek out beauty in a new
destination
Travel and change of place
impart new vigor to the mind (Seneca). Shannon and I have been discussing the
idea of travelling this December. She had suggested the idea of taking a big
trip – something international – and I couldn’t be more delighted when she
proposed Italy (although I have not yet been, I have read Eat, Pray, Love, which clearly makes me a resident expert in the
subject). After all, who does not like wine, art, architecture, and gorgeous
men?
While
planning a trip to a beautiful country, with a beautiful culture, and beautiful
people, I suggest musing over the escape in a similarly beautiful place. Find a field of sunflowers. Witness the beauty. Close
your eyes. Inhale and exhale slowly. Envision three to five people who you
would enjoy accompanying you on the trip. (Suggestion: These are people who you
could spend ten hours on a train with without having to fight the urge to throw
yourself from the moving vehicle.) By the October 20th, contact
these friends and gauge their interest and ability to embark in an Italian
getaway in December (here forth known as the Big Italian Adventure or BIA). By
the end of the month, you should have at least one person committed to the BIA
and begin preliminary research to narrow down your departure date and arrival
location as well as your return flight.
Due Dates:
·
By October 20th, ensure that your passport is up to date
·
By October 20th, contact three to five friends who may be
interested in the BIA
·
By October 31st, have one person committed to BIA
By October 31st,
narrow flight details and begin to plan itinerary
NOVEMBER
Location: Maryland
Mission: To reflect upon and embrace
your past
November
is the month of giving thanks and remembering and appreciating those things we
so often take for granted in our daily lives. It is also a time to spend the
holiday with those we love. This month, I encourage you to reflect daily on
those items that you are thankful for. You can write out this list, create a
journal entry, post it on Facebook, or even just say it aloud. The list may
include such things as: Fat Tire, Yoga, Laughter, Friends and Family,
Books, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, Kermit… (If these sound familiar, it’s because I stole them
from Shannon’s 2012 list!)
This
season of giving thanks, we Baltimoreans are grateful and lucky enough to have
Shannon spend the holiday in Maryland. (I look forward to catch uping over beer
and a dimly-lit dive bar!)
Ice Cream Stop: While you are in town, be
sure to stop along the Historic National Road at
year-old You
Scream Ice Cream in Catonsville and indulge in an old-fashioned banana split
and soda pop. Alternatively (or in addition), you might pit stop at Broom’s Bloom Dairy in Bel Air.
Due Dates:
·
By November 10th, book flight to Baltimore
·
By November 15th, contact and confirm plans with Baltimorean
friends
·
By November 30th, read and reflect on Watermark by Joseph Brodsky (a prose about Venice in winter) that
will hopefully inspire and excite your about your upcoming trip
Continue to work on the BIA
itinerary throughout November
DECEMBER
Location: Italy (2 Weeks)
Mission: To embark on a new journey
in a new country (and meet handsome strangers)
This
month is all about learning, indulging, and experiencing. This month, you will
travel to … (Drum roll, please!) … Venice, Italy! Conratulations, you will be
receiving a brand-new passport cover in the mail to begin your journey. This is
your trip to get exactly what you from it. I have created a vague,
work-in-process “to do” list. (Note Kristina’s caveat: I have not been to Italy
so I am basing my recommendations from the trusty internet. You can always
believe what you read online, right?)
1.
Drink copious amounts of wine al fresco.
2.
Eat enough mozzarella and freshly baked bread for the year.
3.
Flirt shamelessly with strangers you will never see again (this is
where your Italian will come in handy!) ;)
4.
Be serenaded on a gondola ride.
5.
Take a vaporetto to the Island of Murano (historic glass making) and
Burano (colorful painted homes).
6.
Have coffee in Piazza San Marco.
7.
Cross the Bridge of Sighs at the Doge Palace.
8.
Pause at the top of the Rialto Bridge and admire the turquoise water of
the Grand Canal.
9.
Avoid pickpocketers.
10. Keep a journal and write in
it every day while traveling. Your entries need not to be lengthy, it could be
a lyric from a new song you discovered or a quote on a coffeehouse wall.
I
encourage friends and family to chime in with suggestions!
Ice Cream Stop:
According to trusty Trip Advisor, most Venetians agree
that some of the city’s best gelato is served in
Boutique del Gelato,
a tiny outlet on busy salizzada San Lio. Apparently you must be patient though
because there’s always a huge crowd waiting to be served. Alternatively, you
can stop in at
Alaska Gelateria-Sorbetteria where they
are passionate about making ice-cream and experimenting with new, exotic
flavours such as artichoke, fennel, asparagus or ginger.
Due Dates:
·
By December 5th, check out a book on Italian from your local
library and attempt to learn basic Italian phrases in preparation for the BIA
·
By December 5th, download to Rick Steve’s free audio on your
smart phone
By December 31st,
share stories of your BIA with your friends on Open Book and beyond (be sure to
include photos!)
JANUARY
Location: Idaho
Mission: Explore your adventurous
side, your way!
Choose
your adventure! Activity suggestions include:
· Host
and participate for a Polar Bear Plunge-esque in the Lake Cascade (pending you do not develop hypothermia)
· Challenge
your friends to a snow ball fight (can defer to February should there be no
snow yet)
· Partake
in a flashmob (particularly if you can manage to videotape and share with
friends!)
· Do yoga
in a public space and offer passerbyers a to join you
Due Dates:
By January 1st,
choose a New Year, New Destination for August. Can be a new town, city, state.
Pick a place or activity you have been itching to try. Put it on the calendar
for August and stick to it.
FEBRUARY
Location: TBD
Mission: Discover a place to create,
be inspired, and to trust your being
Trust
your instincts. Find a place where you are at peace with your mind and heart.
Choose your instrument: paint, collage, journal, pencil… Then create. Make
something beautiful and true. Enjoy the process. Believe in it.
Due Dates:
By February 20th,
purchase flight to return to Missouri (if you are not planning to drive)
MARCH
Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Mission: Embrace and find comfort in
family, past, learn to let go
Over
Spring Break, return home to Kansas City and spend time with your family. Enjoy
your time with your sister and niece Lily in particular. Offer to babysit so
your sister can take the evening off. Introduce your niece to the best ice
cream that Missouri has to offer: Ted Drewes.
Buy a frozen custard milkshake. (Sharing is not required.)
Spoil Lily rotten. Become Lily’s favorite auntie.
Ice Cream Stop:
Ted
Drewes for their infamous “concrete” frozen custard milkshake. Sharing not required.
Due Dates:
By the end of the month,
begin planning trip to Seattle to visit friends.
APRIL
Location: Idaho
Mission: Celebrate April weirdness!
April
is known for a lot of random, amazing, and largely unknown things. So for this
month, I challenge you to celebrate at least one that excites your spirit:
·
National Poety Month
·
April Fool’s Day
·
Earth Day
·
Record Store Day
·
Jazz Appreciation Month
Celebrate
however you would like, with whomever you would like. Don’t think too much –
just be present and enjoy!
Due Dates:
By April 10th,
book flight to Seattle (or investigate driving directions if you plan to drive)
MAY
Location: Seattle
Mission: Embrace and love your
friends
Enjoy
life on the West Coast. Go for a hike. Go kayaking. Meditate. Do yoga. Drink
lots of coffee. Go to Pike’s Place. Visit a museum or two. Be a Rockstar at
Experience Music Project. Make friends with strangers. Dance in the rain (even
if it’s not raining).
Due Dates:
·
By May 15th, recruit friends to go on Road Trip
By May 31st,
begin to plan itinerary for Road Trip
JUNE
Location: TBD
Mission: To let your hair down,
dance with no regard, and sing your favorite Beyoncé songs
School’s
officially out! It is time to celebrate! I propose a Road Trip of some sort.
The destination is up to you. Plan it out or, alternatively, just grab a bag of
clothes and see where the road takes you. And since we all know you are a bit Beyoncé-challenged
(and because we love you), we will allow you to indulge in your peculiar,
border-line obsession with her. Therefore, this Road Trip requires hours of
Beyoncé karaoke in the car (my apologies in advance to those who join her on
the Road Trip). A little Who
Run the World? I think so. If
you have a friend with a convertible, I suggest you invite them along (if you
do not, try to make a friend with a convertible prior to the trip.) Decorating
the car in brightly colored window markers is mandatory. I recommend writing at
least one “Honk if you love [fill in the blank]!”
Due Dates:
By June 5th,
create several Road Trip 2014 Mix CDs (lots of Beyoncé required)
JULY
|
Location: Boise, Idaho
Mission: To enjoy new friends, new
music, and your (somewhat) new city
Take
all your new (and perhaps not-so-new) Boise-an friends to the Boise Music Festival and enjoy
the sun, music, food, and people. Dance. Laugh. Be.
Ice Cream Stop: Perhaps a new (or existing) favorite: Delsa's
Homemade Ice Cream in Boise. Try the
unusual flavors such as huckleberry and Swiss orange chip.
Due Dates:
·
No homework!
|
AUGUST
Location: Idaho or TBD
Mission: To do something for you and
to be at peace with your mind, heart, and spirit
Rewind
to January. Did your resolution include a new desination for August? If so,
make it happen. If you have not nailed down a plan, then do it now. Want to
take Kermit for a day-long kayak trip? Feel the itch to (temporarily) go off
the grid? Do you have the desire to sign up for a triathlon? Lay in a field of
sunflowers? Whatever the urge is, do it! Make the last month of summer about
you and love the time you spend alone as well with friends. Make it count.
Due Dates:
By the end of the month,
figure out if you are able to make the trip to Telluride in September. If so,
determine logistics of transportation and lodging.
SEPTEMBER
Location: Telluride, Colorado
Mission: End the Year of Travel and
Discovery with as much beer-drinking and fun-having as you can
Embrace
your inner hippie (throw back to Candice) and the spirit of music and soul at
the Telluride Brews and Blues Festival.
Eat a bunch of granola. Dance wildly. Wear tie-dye and hemp. Add wildflowers to
your hair. Recite some Allen Ginsberg. Reread your favorite Kerouac book. Put
down Beyonce (for the day) and listen to Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Cream, The
Beatles, The Stones, The Doors, The Dead, Arlo Guthrie, Hendrix, Zeppelin,
Floyd… Use the terms “far out,”
“you dig?” and “total bummer.” Should you need more help to embrace the
hippiedom experience, look no farther than Wikihow. Let your freak flag fly!
Due Dates:
It is your turn. Begin
planning your next big trip. Good luck!
